Statin Use Improves Cardiometabolic Protection Promoted By Physical Training in an Aquatic Environment: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Reply

On 09/29/21 we received notification of a Letter to the Editor of the Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia journal with some criticisms to our article entitled “Statin Use Improves Cardiometabolic Protection Promoted By Physical Training in an Aquatic Environment: A Randomized Clinical Trial”. We would like to thank the editors for the opportunity to respond and would like to clarify some points mentioned in the aforementioned Letter, which, according to our understanding, has serious problems in the interpretation of the scientific methodology processes used in our article.

The authors of the Letter report that a healthy control group was not added to the study. In fact, it was not and we report below the reasons why we made this methodological decision. The objective of the study was to analyze the influence of simvastatin use on the lipid profile adaptations resulting from aerobic and resistance training in aquatic environments in elderly women with dyslipidemia. Considering that the literature is already vast concerning studies of physical training interventions with a healthy population and evaluation of lipid parameters, the focus of our experiment was to study their effects on individuals with dyslipidemia, thus bringing a new result focused on those who need therapeutic interventions the most, aiming at improving the lipid profile. In this context, we did not see the justification for the inclusion of a healthy group. Another reason is the complete lack of intention to compare the effects of using a lipid-lowering medication in healthy individuals versus dyslipidemia patients. Therefore, we did not find any justification for the use of this medication in a healthy population.

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